In Capital Queers, Alex Reynolds returns with his lover Peter, and his delightful mother, and embark on a very dangerous quest to find a missing religious artifact that everyone seems to think they have. Along the way the run into the usual unfeeling police, and run afoul of a bizarre religious cult. As usual, the book has a lightening quick plot that is filled with quick wit, pot-shots at movie stereotypes, and a great deal of affection. And also as usual, the book is a joy to read.

Anyone who inspires the passionate responses I've seen of Hunter's books is a must to read!

Alex Reynolds is a gay man who shares a home with his mother and husband Peter Livesay. Their friends Mason and Ryan are a happily married couple, who proudly show off to Alex the latest doll in Mason's fabulous collection. Not too long after that, Mason and Ryan are eviscerated to death. All of Mason's dolls are smashed as if someone was searching for something inside one of them.

Alex inherits the dolls and takes home with him the few still intact. However, his home is vandalized and two men insist he returns their artifact or else. Before long Alex and his housemates find themselves embroiled in international intrigue that has the State Department visiting them.

Fred Hunter is one of the best writers of gay mysteries that have a farcical twist to them. He always tells an interesting tale that includes wit, sarcasm, and slapstick. His characters are warm and accepting, regardless of sexual persuasion. CAPITAL QUEERS exceeds his previous work, as it is clearly an Edgar contender.

Harriet Klausner

This book, about an aging southern poet/professor who brings his only son, suffering from AIDS, back from New York to die at home, is a beautifully written and touching portrait of the characters involved. But more, it is in many ways the typical 'Southern' novel, where the tragic outcome and any hope of redemption are all bound up with family history, race, sex, friendship, the 'wages of sin' and the weight of history. There is a sensibility at work here, as in Peter Taylor's work, that seems, in its particular experession, uniquely southern but manages to be, in its effect upon the reader, universal.

This is a very moving book. The only problem I experienced in reading it was a slight twitch whenever the main character would speak of his own early same sex experiences. In these scenes, the language Price put into the protagonist's mouth seemed artifical and strained, and the euphemisms chosen to refer to body parts and sexual activity were so strange that even a Victorian would have laughed at them. Nevertheless, the story engaged the reader from the beginning and despite the inevitability of the outcome, maintained a strong emotional hold. I was deeply moved by this book, which, like the best of southern writing, left me questioning much in my own life and times.

The Hitlerjugend Divisuion proved itself throughout the fighting, due in no small part to Kurt "Panzer" Meyer, who was one of the regimental commanders and later the commanding officer of the Division after the death of Fritz Witt, the Hitlerjugend's first commander. General Reynolds quites extensively from the book Grenadiers (see my Amazon review of this book) and other German sources. General Reynolds is also even-handed in his examination of the alleged atrocities commited by members of the Hitlerjugend and also shows examples of Allied execution of German prisoners, particularly by Canadian troops (most of the documented execution of German prisoners by the Western Allies were commited by Canadians). General Reynolds is adamant in condemning all such incidents and is to be praised for being impartial.

All in all, a good book, since most of the politics in the Peiper book were avioded, although Genral Reynolds' characterization of Panzermeyer being an ardent Nazi may be an exageration, since Kurt Meyer was praised by many Wehrmacht generals, most of them who were unlikely to be friendly to Waffen-SS officers. Gen. Reynolds mentions Wehrmacht General Heinz Eberbach in his book. General Eberbach had the 1st SS Korps under his command and praised Kurt Meyer (and I think he also testified on behalf of Kurt Meyer during his trial).

Jochen Peiper was certainly a courageous officer, but he is associated with the massacre of American POWs at Malmedy, a crime for which he was sentenced to death, but was later overturned due to irregualities in the prosecution's case. General Reynolds is even-handed in examining the evidence for and against Peiper. Peiper's later life and mysterious death are covered well. Among Waffen-SS veterans there is a certain amount of sentiment that Peiper was a victim as well and the appelation "Der letzte Gefallene" or the last casualty has been given to him. Certainly Peiper was taking a great amount of risk by living in France, but the French government no doubt knew of his past and allowed him to maintain a residence there. General Reynolds is fair in his assesment that Peiper was an excellent officer who took some excesses in combat, although his attempts to link Peiper to Himmler are a bit far-fetched. The "Final Solution" and its implementation were in 1942, during a period where Peiper was engaged in combat on the Eastern Front and it is unlikely that a junior officer could have had access to sensitive information.

Four stars for this book, because of the inaccurate title. Also, there is a mistake concerning the last commander of the 1st SS Panzer Division "LAH." Otto Kumm was the officer in question, not Krumm. Oterwise an excellent account although I feel that Steel Inferno by the same author is probably the better book, as there is less politics in that book.

But of his recent work, Chance is a bit of a disappointment. Mystery? There isn't really a mystery here the reader can solve. Character? The new characters are all rather shallow, structureless, and uncompelling. This may be a statement about the type of people attracted to Vegas, a city which plays a promonent role in the story, yet no insight is gained into the shallowness, no real new perspective is offered. Suspense? There really isn't much. Drama? No, not much of that either.

Really there isn't much here, globally. Locally, it's better. The interactions between Spenser and the others is, as usual, a joy to read. And Spenser's verbal quips, cultural references, and interesting insights are worth the read. But the book needs a bit more. And Parker's shown before that he can provide it.

Note : This review is based on the book as a part of the Spenser series. The Spenser books are best read in chronological sequence. As a standalone book, this is probably only two stars.

Chance is your basic Spenser novel; if you've read a few of them, you know just what to expect. Our hero is hired to find an errant husband, and ends up focusing on a damsel in distress. Most of the way he has no idea what he's doing. It's refreshing, actually, to have the investigation end at one point, with Spenser more clueless than when he began. Of course he figures it all out in the end, but more by luck than anything else. There isn't too much byplay with Susan here, so if you're interested more in that relationship than in Spenser's wisecracking and dogged persistence, try another book (perhaps Small Vices).

I hope Mr. Parker keeps Spenser going for a long long time.

The book has three parts. The first part is the authors' philosophical musings on the development of New Age thinking. It is mildly interesting if you're into that kind of thing.

The second part is a very selective "history" of the development of pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing. (The use of the two terms in the same sentence is uncomfortable for me because there is a such a vast difference between them.) The description of their Airplane Game experience is intriguing and instructive. But their insistence that illegal pyramid schemes and legitimate multi-level marketing companies are the same thing is unfair and misleading.

The third section of the book is the best part. It is full of references to other motivational literature that is a great service to readers. The encouraging and motivational sections near the end are worth reading.

Make no mistake, the author of this book loathes MLM. As far as he is concerned, there is little distinction between most MLMs and pyramid schemes, other than the fact that the latter are illegal. Even if you are pro-MLM though, you must admit that many of his observations are correct, and that the MLM industry in general has a long way to go before it reaches any level of acceptance in our society.

My favorite aspect of the book concerns its look at the psychology of many multilevel marketers and get-rich-quick schemers. It focuses on the guilt trips that these people lay on their own friends and family, their compromise of integrity and interpersonal relationships for the sake of greed, their deception of unsuspecting strangers, and the overemphasis on materialism that has made many of these people morally bankrupt.

Of course, not all MLM participants behave like this. These are largely the actions of "MLM junkies" and hard-core recruiters. Unfortunately, MLM companies and the industry itself often encourage this type of behavior amongst their reps, which has helped to give the MLM industry a black eye over the years and made multilevel marketers looked upon as people to avoid. Hopefully, by recognizing these ugly traits, you can avoid becoming one of these people.

About the only downside of this book is its occasional delve into spiritual and deeply philosophical theories of how MLMs and cults operate. While I have seen many MLMs that resemble cults, and many multilevel marketers that resemble little more than brainwashed zombies, I think that the author's view of all MLMs being tied (somehow) into the new age movement is a bit of a stretch. Not all people get involved with MLM for the same reason, and not all multilevel marketers become blathering idiots. Many do, but certainly not all of them.

Despite the author's occasional forays into the esoteric, the book is quite enjoyable to read. It is obviously very well researched and the culmination of many years of hard work. Although it may go a bit far at times, I think that it should be read by anyone contemplating getting involved in the world of multilevel marketing. It will really make you question EXACTLY why you are getting involved, and whether your involvement is for the right reasons.

Unethical multilevel marketers will absolutely HATE this book. Those involved in blatant pyramids and get-rich-quick schemes will probably want to strangle the author, since he will likely expose them for the shallow con-artists they are. Ethical multilevel marketers will learn how to avoid the pitfalls of becoming a participant in these types of schemes, and the book's lessons will serve as a reminder of how NOT to do business.

Fitzpatrick explains exactly how illegal pyramids work, and exposes many MLMs for what they really are. After reading this book, you should be able to tell the difference between a quasi-pyramid and a legitimate business opportunity. You should also come away with a strong sense of what is ethical and right, and what is not. Ethics seems to be a dirty word to many in the MLM industry, but it shouldn't be. Read this book, and you will likely discover much about MLM, and yourself, that you did not already know.

(A by no means irrelevant aside: by now, Kramer has lost most of whatever credibility he ever had on the AIDS crisis by calling too many undeserving people "murderer" too many times. Still, the world owes him an ENORMOUS debt of gratitude for being the firstest and the loudest to cry havoc as people started dropping like flies.)

"Faggots" is an attempt at satire that is almost never humorous, though there are a few precious bits of wickedly funny writing, such as one takeoff on the stilted dialogue that prevailed in '70's gay porno.

Kramer, at this point in his very interesting career, had overdosed on the vapid shallowness and callous, heartless promiscuity he saw all around him in Greater New York. Over and over he uses the voice of his alter-ego narrator to sound the note of alarm that gay men are just doing this life thing all wrong, and should, really really SHOULD, just drop everything they're doing and put the development of their hearts and minds over the development of their pecs and abs and the fulfillment of their groins... over and over and over and over and over and over and over again through page after tedious page.

What he never seemed to understand at the time was that: (a) Most guys who had lived significant portions of their lives west of the Hudson already knew this, and were in no rush to get to the next Red and White Party on Fire Island. (b) If you want those around you to feel and act more kind-heartedly to each other, you must start with the man in the mirror. The narrator seems to have finally begun to sense this by the novel's end, but remains too vainly preoccupied with his own pain to reflect that maybe his precious Dinky, and all the others whom he can neither forgive or forget, acted that way in large part because... they thought that's what people like him wanted. Or else they wouldn't BE there, ya know?

To put it another way, Kramer's stand-in still doesn't recognize his own role in helping along all the fashion-fascism Attitude Queen-ness he deplores. To put it yet another way: The great thing about operating in a thickly crowded social environment chock full of others of your kind is that if, for whatever reason good-bad-or-indifferent, you just don't get along well enough with Person A, there's always Person B. The horrifying thing about it is, Person B knows that too.

Well, Larry, if you ever read this, you're always welcome to ship out to some radical faerie sanctuary out here in the boonies and catch a glimpse of what you've been missing... Probably not. You do still have important things to do in the city. I hope.

As for this novel, it makes for occasionally interesting reading. We can't call it outdated because it wasn't even intended to be an accurate portrayal of its own times, but the No-Funhouse mirror through which it views its times is also outdated. Its greatest virtue, however, is that its production leveled the emotional ground within Kramer himself, blasting it to bedrock and clearing the way for his undoubted masterpiece, "The Normal Heart," in which among other things his protagonist finally awakens to the notion that even guys who get called "troll" a lot can have an Inner Twinky who needs to be put firmly in his place... like, say, maybe sending the twink out to get coffee and changing the locks while he's gone...

Two aspects about Kramer's writing style, though, did bother me. First, so many characters ran in and out of the novel that I couldn't keep track of them all. Could we have done without, say, Gatsby, Paulie, or even Anthony, and still had a great story? I think so. Also, Kramer's deliberate use of run-on sentences made the narrative hard to follow at times. I can live with run-on sentences to some degree (just read my sentences sometime), but some of Kramer's were too convoluted even for me. Still, a book worth reading.

The novel's main character, Fred Lemish, is a neurotic gay man on the edge of his 40th birthday. Fred is determined to find love and he thinks he has it in the form of "Dinky" Adams. Fred pursues Dinky through the worst (or "best" if you feel nostalgic) sexual excesses New York and Fire Island could offer in those years. No party, orgy or drug was off limits. People today may think that Kramer was exaggerating the gay scene for shock value, but actually he was taking the most excessive side of things and telling the story pretty straight.

Kramer's moral, that gay men should treat each other as people and not as commodities, has worn well with time, and the book is an interesting read from a time gone by. I just hope we understand it isn't representative of gay life today, and probably wasn't typical of all gay life even back then.

I got loss in the details. I felt after awhile that I was just reading stories of battle scenes.

It is noteworthy that Reynolds' breadth is not delimited to the 1st SS Panzer Corps, but covers tactical movements, battlefield objectives, and terrain analysis issues of all contending armies. Hence, at both the operational and tactical levels, lessons abound, and the key to battlefield success was how effective either side exploited time, terrain, and the ability to apply combined arms warfare. So circumstanced, the Germans were tactically successful - amidst impending operational defeat - because they better employed infantry/armor integration, acting upon the urgency to launch counterattacks against Allied battlefield encroachments. Yet overall, German battlefield achievements proved diminutive, for they were continually driven to retrench eastward.

How did the Allies fare? As Reynolds states, the problem with many of the Allied commanders - particularly British and Canadian - was that they "displayed none of the panache, drive, imagination or willingness to take risks" found in their German counterparts (133). Due to lack of aggressiveness on the part of some commanders, they inexplicably paused to go on the defensive in the midst of a successful offensive. Sometimes Allied plans were askew from the start, with only battalion-strength units hurled against much heavier and entrenched SS forces. Time and again, Allied commanders did not follow-up their dearly- won, time-critical advantages while their enemies stood incredulous over their adversary's inefficiency, hesitation, and poor judgement. Through errors of this character, thousands of Germans were able to escape the Falaise pocket, as Allied commanders failed to coordinate between components, or showed a lack of urgency, misapplying their armor, "making the task of blocking German escape routes difficult by day and impossible at night" (336). However, though the ratio of Allied casualties to German in the fighting in the critical Caen area (for instance) was more than six-to-one, Allied manpower superiority held sway. It was this pivotal factor that weighed heavily in critically depleting German manpower.

In retrospect, how were the Germans able to perform so effectively, especially without air supremacy or air superiority? As Reynolds illustrates, it was "weapons handling, marksmanship, fieldcraft, camouflage and night operations, coupled with physical toughness, self control and a sense of camaraderie...[that] created a very formidable fighting machine" (42). Furthermore, German commanders would ensure combined arms coordination, as their Tiger and Jagdpanther aces rolled up column after column of Allied armored vehicles.

However, such tenacity would, in the end, not prove enough: the Germans asseverated time and again the deleterious effects of Allied airpower and artillery upon their armored vehicles. At one point, some three hundred Luftwaffe aircraft promised for the Mortain counterattack never materialized, while Allied fighter-bombers continually thwarted encroachments by German airpower. Against such odds, German flak companies were only sporadically effective, while the tactical efficiency of British fighter-bombers and American bombers proved incisive, even though Allied ground commanders often failed to exploit the time-critical opportunities presented by their airpower advantage. Veridically, Reynolds states that military history should "chronicle military campaigns correctly, to expose any myths that have arisen and point out obvious mistakes and omissions." (xx). In attaining this goal Reynolds' has performed masterfully, setting a standard for the scholarly study of warfare.

Witness the foolishness of TyTy as he captures a white, white man to divine a gold lode. The sensuousness of Ty's daughter, Darling Jill, gets to be rediculous as well as his passion for Griselda, his daughter-in-law. Throughout the book you will be confronted with adultry, rape and ignorance. The female characters are clueless and use their sexuality to get what they want. Except for Rosamond (Ty's daughter) neither of the females exhibit any type of strong character and even Rosamond falls short.

The positiveness of this book is that it shows the sociological and economic impact of the depression on the lives of poor people. You witness their exagerated behavior and begin to shake your head. The weakness of the work is its repetition, pointless scenes and weak plot. After awhile the story gets to become a bore as you're wondering where is it heading. It is a fair read and I would say by all means read this work and move beyond its stereotypes of exagerated southern culture.

TyTy Walden is as obsessed with finding gold on his land as Captain Ahab was about finding the great white whale. Greselda Walden has to be one of the most desired and fought over women in all of American literature. And what red blooded American male would not have wanted a date with Darling Jill. This book alternates from being light-hearted and silly to being very serious and profound. There is great pathos in the description of the desperation of Will Thompson and the other starving mill workers to re-open the mill and go back to work. The death of Will Thompson is a great reminder of the struggle of working people to be treated fairly in this country. This book accurately recounts the hopes and fears of the thousands of working class people who were forced to live in "company towns" and who "owed their soul to the company store."

Although I found some of the more explicit sexual content of this novel to be silly and somewhat overdone (I don't think that most people in rural Georgia in the 1930's were this open about their sexualty!), this is a great American novel and Erskine Caldwell should be remembered as one of the great American writers of this century.